Toushirou: Like I said before, I`m-
Jennifer: Eeek! You are sooo cute!
Jumps him.
Toushirou: What the-?! Get off of me!
Jennifer: Aw, you are so cute acting all bad and stuff!
Toushirou: I`m not cute!
Mewtwo: This could be our chance to escape.
Ikuto: Right, Jennifer can be the distraction.
Amu: Let`s hurry so we can get out of here.
They sneak off.
Jennifer: And here I was worried I wouldn`t meet any attractive guys!
Toushirou: Why don`t you take me seriously?!
Jennifer: I know, I`m taking you home with me! X3
Toushirou: What is with you?!
Jennifer: I think I found the one!
Toushirou: This can`t be happening…
Chapter 36: Attacks
Utau slowly regained consciousness and when she did so, she came across Yaya`s face looking down on her. Startled, Utau immediately sat up. Yaya gave a small giggle as she jumped off the bed. Yaya was the one who changed a little more than the others. A fresh girl of seventeen, Yaya was the captain of the cheerleader squad at her high school and very popular, but she still hadn`t lost her childish nature.
"Oh, Tadase, Kukai, guess who`s finally awake!" She called as she sat on a nearby chair.
"What happened?" Utau asked. Yaya jumped from her seat as she plopped down next to Utau. She couldn`t remain seated for more than a few seconds.
"Well, Kukai and I found you half-conscious on the ground near the woods. You had lost a lot of blood. So we took you Tadase`s house to dress your wounds." She explained. Utau realized she was bandaged up. Her wounds still stung, but at least the pain wasn`t as intense. Yaya suddenly stopped smiling.
"Your charas told us all about what happened. Is it really true about what you saw?" She asked. Utau was about to reply when Tadase and Kukai entered the room. One thing for sure was that the two boys grew a lot over the years. Kukai had a little more muscle than when he was a kid, and his looks seemed to have sharpened as well. Tadase looked the same, but he no longer looked childish. In fact Utau found him attractive actually, but he still had the same aurora like before when he was in elementary. Tadase was probably the ones who never change their character, being formal and polite. He was no longer the short, skinny Tadase that she knew before.
"Hoshina-san, I see you are doing well." Tadase said as he took a seat next to the bed. His voice was a little deeper as well. Utau winced in pain a little as she raised her arm, her shoulder made it hard for her to move it. El and Ii appeared right behind Kukai.
"Utau, are you alright?" El asked worried. Daichi and Kiseki floated nearby as well. Utau groaned as she tried to get up. Tadase stopped her.
"Sorry, Hoshina-san, I think you should just lie down." Utau didn`t seem to have a choice after all, she was sore. Kukai placed his hands behind his head as he leaned against the wall.
"So what exactly happened?" Kukai asked.
"I don`t know. There was this kid who I followed into the woods. I mean, he seemed so different, his eyes were really black. It was so weird, the feeling he left behind was so…evil…" She explained as she recalled the encounter. Yaya gave a shudder as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"How scary…" She said.
"It was strange, the boy didn`t have any emotion, he just attacked me. It wasn`t like those who had their eggs turned into X-eggs. It`s egg was turned to stone…" Utau said. Tadase looked grim.
"Turned to stone?" He asked. Utau nodded.
"It was stone; I saw it with my own eyes. He held it out as if the egg was controlling him, not him controlling the egg. He had no life in him…" Utau informed them. "Then he tried to kill me…"
"You don`t think it has a connection to all the disappearances?" Kukai asked. Tadase crossed his arms as he thought over the matter.
"Kiseki, is it usual for something like that to happen?" Tadase asked. His chara shook his looking grim.
"No, not at all, this is something new." His chara replied. Pepe clung close to Yaya who held her chara close.
"I can`t help but have a bad feeling about this." Yaya said. Kukai placed his hands on her shoulders.
"We all have a bad feeling." He said. Utau stared at her charas for a while, wondering about the situation. What exactly was going on? Was Amu right, maybe Easter is behind it. Utau had no idea how to deal with all of this, she wasn`t even sure if it even was Easter. The company was long gone, at least that`s what she thought. They haven`t heard of Easter for six years, why now all of a sudden. Even if it was Easter, she wasn`t sure how to actually prove that it was them. She no longer worked for Easter and neither did Ikuto, and even if they did, they wouldn`t know anything about their issues. If only she knew someone who had an idea, who knew about it…
"That`s it!" Utau cried catching everyone off guard.
"What?" Kukai asked. Utau searched around the room and found her purse sitting on the bedside table. She reached for it and took out her cell phone.
"I know someone who can tell us about something like this. Amu and I talked about this, and we both concluded that Easter is behind all of this." She explained.
"Easter?" Tadase asked. Utau nodded.
"Remember six years ago? Easter tried to get their hands on some files, at least that`s what I`ve been told by Ikuto. The person who knows more about it is Katsuya Taske, Yuki`s father." She said. Utau was the only one who saw Tadase stiffen at the mention of Yuki`s name.
"That`s a great idea and all, but we don`t know where to locate Yuki." Yaya said. Utau was already dialing Ikuto`s number.
"Ikuto went away with her, remember, he might know where I can get in touch with her." Utau said. Kukai frowned.
"You mean you knew how to talk to Yuki and you didn`t even tell us?" He asked. Utau shrugged.
"I was told not to tell, but it`s too late now, we need their help." Utau said. She glanced at Tadase who shifted nervously. She waited for the call to get through, then Ikuto answered.
"Hello?"
"Ikuto, I need to talk with Yuki, do you have her number?" Utau asked. They were all silent as they waited for Utau to finish talking.
"Why do you want her number?" He asked.
"There is something we need to discuss with her. She can explain everything to you later." Utau said.
"I`m at her house right now, I`ll just call her to talk to you, hang on." Ikuto said. Utau waited for Yuki to get on the other line. It`s been six years since she talked to Yuki and she wondered whether Yuki changed or not. Utau heard voices in the background then Yuki spoke.
"Yeah, what`s up?" Yuki asked. Utau took a breath as she heard her voice. Six long years have past and now Utau was talking with Yuki.
"Yuki?" Utau asked. Yaya looked ecstatic along with Kukai, but Tadase looked uncomfortable.
"Yeah it`s me, what is it?" Yuki asked in an annoyed kind of voice. Utau wondered how much Yuki had changed.
"There is a problem going on around here, Yuki. Strange things are happening." Utau said. Yuki took a breath as well.
"What kind of trouble?" She asked. Utau sighed.
"Okay, just listen to what I have to say, and ask questions later. There are disappearances occurring here. Not just any disappearances, but children are going missing. Listen, earlier today I followed a small boy into the woods, and Yuki, there was something ominous about him. When I came across him, he was like dead, dead Yuki, he had no life in him, and he only walked slowly and attacked me as well. It was strange, his chara egg was turned to stone, and he just held it out. I don`t know what`s going on, but many of us think Easter is behind it." Utau explained. Yuki was silent for a while. Utau quickly put the cell on speaker.
"Easter…My dad talked about a project he did six years ago. It was a project that sealed a child`s heart, ripping it all of its emotions except for one." Yuki said.
"Which emotion is that?" Utau asked. Everyone listened intently.
"Hate, hate towards oneself, towards others, and towards life…" She said. Yaya gave another shudder.
"Do you know anything else?" Kukai asked. Not knowing that she was on speaker, Yuki was surprised.
"Who`s there?" She asked. Kukai smirked.
"It`s me, the guy you were going to have a rematch with in soccer." He said.
"No way! Dude it`s great to hear from you, man I missed you!" Yuki exclaimed. Utau became annoyed, this really wasn`t the time to talk to each other about good times.
"I`m still looking forward to that rematch you promised me." Kukai said loudly. Yuki laughed, she had such a wonderful laugh.
"Ha, ha, south side, dude!" She said. Yaya snatched the cell away from Utau.
"Hey!" Utau cried.
"No fair Yuki, you should`ve told us you were leaving!" Yaya cried.
"Yaya? I`m glad to hear you haven`t changed. Sorry for not saying anything, I though it would be better that way." She explained. Utau crossed her arms, this was no good…
"Well, since you didn`t tell us, I will have to punish you!" Yaya cried.
"Punish me? Well throw it at me then." Yuki said.
"I already did, Princess Yuki!" Yaya cried sticking out her tongue.
"Low blow…" Yuki replied. It was like a reunion, but not really.
"We really miss you." Yaya finally said.
"Yeah, but what can we do? Who else is there?" She asked. Utau shifted her eyes to Tadase, who scratched his head sheepishly. Yaya, unaware of Yuki`s feelings and Tadase`s uneasiness, patted Tadase on the shoulder.
"Yup! Tadase is here too, say hi Tadase!" Yaya shouted happily. Yuki immediately went silent and the awkwardness settled in the room. Utau bit her lip as she snatched the cell phone back.
"Like I said, what else do you know about that project?" Utau asked changing the topic quickly. Yuki took a while to answer.
"O-oh, right. I really don`t know what to say, my father knows more about it than I do. I`ll talk to him about it, if what you say about the boy is true, then we may have a real problem on our hands. I`ll call you if I come across anything new." She said. Utau agreed.
"Yes, be sure to let me know." Utau said. They were getting close to saying farewell, but Yuki spoke up again.
"I just want to tell you guys that my feelings for you all haven`t changed. I`m glad I got to speak to you guys again. Utau, tell Amu that I`m doing fine, and I miss her. I`ll keep in touch from now on." Yuki said. Utau was about to hang up when Tadase suddenly spoke up.
"Wait! Yuki, I just want to say that…I feel the same way too…" There was a startled silence.
"I-I have to go, bye." There was a click as she hung up. Utau sighed and was surprised at Tadase`s sudden confession.
"I guess Easter really is back." Kukai said. Utau sighed, could things get any worse?
Utau was running to the park. She had gotten a frantic phone call from Amu, saying she was being attacked by these strange kids. It had been a few days since Utau talked with Yuki and she hadn`t called to see if anything was new with the situation. She was worried; worried at the fact that Amu was in danger of getting killed. Amu had been told about these kids, and they have been coming across them more often, it was a horrible sight. These kids were invincible, they would all character transform and try to fight them, but it was no use. They were thrown back by an invisible force before they could lay one finger on them. All of this brought the former Guardians together, trying to find a way to stop these monsters. Nothing they did was of any use. Amu once tried to purify them, but it had no affect, their strongest weapon was a failure. It`s been like that for days, fighting a useless battle. The strange thing though, was that they only attacked the former Guardians, could it be that because they have charas, the children are attracted to them?
"Utau!" Amu cried. Utau saw that everyone was together, trying to fight against two children. Amu was Amulet Heart, and everyone else in their transformations. Nagihiko and Rima didn`t leave each other`s side. The attacks were becoming more frequent it was almost useless to character transform with her charas. Amu jumped out of the way of the invisible attacks. A child raised their stone eggs and started chanting something inaudible.
"Look over there!" Yaya cried pointing at the trees. They all turned and saw more children appearing from among the trees. There had to be a least a dozen of them. They wouldn`t stand a chance, they had to run.
"We are no match for them! We need to go!" Utau yelled at them all.
"It will be useless, they`ll find us either way!" Amu cried back. This was true; they were after something, or someone. Suddenly, they all saw the stone eggs float into the air. Then they quickly surrounded Amu.
"No!" Yaya cried out. Amu was trapped and she couldn`t escape.
"Amu!" Su cried in fear as Amu was forced to kneel down, not being able to withstand a sudden pressure which was coming down on her. Utau dreaded about what might happen to her. What if she was killed? Amu attacked the eggs, but it was all in vain. They were protected by an invisible shield.
"No, Amu!" Miki yelled. The children surround her, held out there hands, and called for her. They grabbed her arms, legs, and waist; gripping her tightly. Amu couldn`t escape. The former Guardians tried to break through the shield; they did all sorts of attacks but to no avail. Weak and outnumbered, Amu`s transformation broke, leaving her vulnerable. The eggs started to spin around her.
"Ran, Miki, Su!" Amu cried for her charas. They all watched in horror as Ran, Miki, and Su were being dragged into their eggs. The little charas struggled against the force, but they were beaten. Amu`s three charas were shut tight in their eggs and Utau realized what they were doing.
"They are going to take her!" Utau screamed. Everyone was suddenly thrown back as a dark purple light surrounded Amu. Amu covered her head with her arms as she started screaming.
"No, please don`t leave me! I don`t want to be alone! I didn`t do anything wrong!" She yelled. Amu clutched her chest as her eggs started to slowly turn into stone, her heart was sealing shut.
"Why are they taking her?" Rima shouted.
"Hinamori-san!" Tadase yelled. It was already too late; Amu fell to the ground, her stone eggs floating above her. The children stood back as Amu started to stir. She sat up and stared at the ground with her black, lifeless eyes. A cold fury stirred up within Utau as she watched Amu get up with the same sluggish movements of the other children.
"We couldn`t do anything to stop it." Nagihiko said through clenched teeth. The air suddenly grew a lot colder than it was before.
"Utau, this is really bad. Amu is far more dangerous than the other children." Ii whispered. Amu raised her hands as her three stone eggs shot forth invisible blades that could even slice through rock. No one could get out in time, many of them got hurt, but not fatally wounded. Utau hit the ground with a hard thud and quickly looked up, but Amu was gone along with the children.
"Damn it!" Utau scream in anger. They were useless, it was all useless. Amu was taken, taken by Easter and they made her turn against them. The former Guardians stared in both sadness and fury at the place where their Amu once stood…
You risked your life to save me from Easter, and if anything happened to you, I would take the first plane back to Japan...
Rukia141: Hello, anyone here?
No answer.
Rukia141: Hello?
Still no answer.
Rukia141: If I find out that they went to a party without me, I swear-!
Sees the portal.
Rukia141: What`s this?
Looks into the portal and sees the Soul Society.
Rukia141: No way! I must be dreaming!
Hears people fighting and being chased.
Rukia141: I wonder if I should.
Looks at the portal again.
Rukia141: YES!!!
Enters portal.